The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1887-06-02
THE FOURTH CORPS.
(Continued from 1st pagc.l

After Withdrawing and reposting the
troops who had been engaged in the assault,
rode to the right to look to the condition
of the First and Second Divisions. Shortly
after reaching the First Division, which was
on the right of the corps, an electric shout,
which announced that a grand advance was
being made by our right and right-center,
was borne along the lines from the right to
the left. ! at once dispatched orders for the
whole corps to advance and assault the
enemy's works. But the order was scarcely
necessary; all had
CAUGHT THE INSPIRATION,
and officers of all grades, and the rank and
file, each and every one, seemed to vie with
one another in generous rivalry and in the
dash with which they assaulted the enemys
intrenched lines. So general and so COM
bined an attack on all parts Of the eneuy's
position was rssistless. 1t rushed forward
like mighty wave in mid-ocean, driving
everything before it. The sharp fire Of mus
kerry and artillery belched forth from the
enemy's intTenchments did not cause an in
stants pause.
/ advanced with the First Division, and
witnessed with the highest satisfaction the
gallant style in which it assaulted and car
ried the enemy's works. The division car
ried every point of the works in its front,
captured five pieces of artillery, several hun
dred prisoners and many hundred stands of
small-arms. The Second Division bravely
assaulted the works in its front, carried
them at every point, and captured many
prisoners and small-aTms. The Third Di-
vision reassaulted OyertOn Hill, carried it
would that it had been done an hour earlier
and captured four pieces of artillery, a
large number of prisoners and small-arms
and two stands of colors.
The enemy fed
IN THE UTMOST CONFUSION.
Instant pursuit was made by the whole of
the Fourth Corps. Pressing close on the
heels of the flying foe, salvOS of artillery
and vOlleys of musketry quickening the
enemy's flight and increasing his confusion,
the Fourth Corps pressed the pursuit till
the hamlet of Brentwood was reached, "And
the battle went roaring through the pass"
But thick darkness coming on apaee made
il necessary to desist from the pursuit; and
here, nine miles from Nashville, in driz-
zling rain, the Fourth Corps biyOuacked for
the night. By the days operations the
enemy had been driven from a strongly
intrenehed position by assault and forced
into indiScriminate rout. In his flight he
had strewn the ground with smail-arms,
bayOnets, cartIidge-boxes, blankets and other
material-all attesting the completeness of
the disorder to which he had abandoned
himself
The captures of the day by the Fourth
Corps were II pieces of artillery, $50 prison
ers, two stands of colors and thousands of
small-arms. We hadn't time to stop to
count the captured muskets
/ do not propose, in this article, to give
the details OF the pursuit. Suffice it to say,
a vigorous pursuit was commenced early on
the 18th of Dacemher-the Fourth Corps
leading on the Franklin pike, and the Cav
airy Corps of the Military Division of the
Mississippi, commanded by that dashing
young cavalry leader, Brevet Maj aj-Gen. j.
III. Wilson, moving parallel on country roads
when they could be found, and when these
failed, across the open country. The pur-
suit
WAS VIGOROUSLY PRESSED,
in the most inclement weather, over roads
often nearly bOttomlesS, with swollen streams
to be bridged-with which work the troops
labOred, on occasions, far into the night
and the flying enemy allowed no halt till he
was forced across the Tennessee River, 100
miles from Nashville.
Still the enemy was not to know rest.
After the termination of the battle, Gen.
Thomas dispatched Gen. Steedman's COM
mand by rail, via Stevenson and Huntsville,
to Decatur, on the Tennessee, for the purpose
of getting south of the river before the enc
my, and prevent his crossing; and though
this was not done, Gen. w. j. Palmer-who
is now serving the world as well i'll peace as
he did his country in war, having become
one of the great railroad projectors of the
century-succeeded in crossing the Tennes-
see River with detachment of cavalry, con-
tinued the pursuit, captured the remains of
the enemy's pontOOn train, and struck the
last blow of the campaign in the State OF
Alabama, go miles from Nashville.
The annals of the late war afford no paral-
lei to so prOtracted and vigorous pursuit.
| Thus was closed one of the most remark
able campaigns of the war. The enemy,
superior in numbers, was driven, in utter
| Generalization and rOut, from strongly in-
| trenched positions, vigorously pursued, by
| the Fourth Corps and Cavalry Corps, more
than 120 miles, and driven
ACROSS THE TENNESSEE RIVER.
By actual capture OH the field of battle, and
by abandonment in his flight, the enemy
| lost thTee-iourths of his artillery; in prison
| ers taken from him, by desertion, and in killed
and wounded, his force was certainly dimin-
ished by 10000; and his loss in small-arms
ammunition, and other material OF war, was
enormous. From ah organized army, be-
leaguering the Capital OF Tennessee, the foe
had been beaten into dsorganized mass -
q mere rabble. Thus was destroyed the Sec
Ond army in the rebelli0us ConfedeTacy-
the army which, rs Gen. Thomas said, in
his congratulatory order, issued after the
battle, had
FOUGHT US FOR THREE YEARS.
The Fourth Corps captured % pieces 0l
artillery, four stands of colors, and Of small
arms number beyond enumeration. O
the artillery captured, 10 pieces were taken
by assault in the enemys intrenehments
The corps captured Ill commissioned Off
GERS, and i ,S57 non-commissiOned officers
and priyates-
The casualties of the corps amounted to-
officers killed, 10; officers wounded, SO; non
commissioned officers and priyates killed
Ia; non-commissioned officers and privateS
wounded, 759.
rs the title of this article distinctly says
it is narrative of the part borne in the hat
tie OF Nashville by the Fourth Corps. The
article is not intended rs a history of that